© 2014 Utilities Telecom Council State of the Industry “WHY TELECOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY AND NETWORKS ARE CRITICAL TO THE UTILITY OF THE FUTURE: TECHNICAL, POLICY, AND REGULATORY ISSUES” Eric Wagner, Utilities Telecom Council 7 April, 2016

Introduction to UTC Established in 1948, UTC advocates for the telecom and IT interests of electric, gas and water utilities and other critical infrastructure industries. Based in Washington, DC, UTC has affiliate organizations around the world in Europe, Canada, Africa and South America. Spectrum access is a key issue for utilities, as utility modernization places new demands on the underlying communications infrastructure.

Overview Issue: Spectrum Access –Assessment –Options –Risks –Strategic Approach –Next Steps

Utility Spectrum Access: Assessment Utilities need access to additional spectrum that is suitable to meet their increasing communications requirements from smart grid and other applications. How Much? What Frequency Range? When? Next step: To develop a technical basis and industry consensus for access to a band or bands that will meet utility functional requirements for a variety of applications and topologies.

Spectrum Access: Options UTC Whitepaper on Smart Grid Traffic Estimate: –Identifies bandwidth requirements for individual smart grid applications and aggregates them based on different use cases, including electric transmission and distribution networks, as well as gas networks. –Estimates bandwidth requirements on a site-by-site basis for different abstract communications networks at 450 MHz, 700 MHz, and 1.8 GHz. –Total bandwidth requirements are approximately 6-8 MHz, which may be higher or lower depending on the frequency range of the network. EPRI Assessment of Licensed Communication Spectrum for Electric Utility Applications: –Identifies MHz as “particularly attractive” due to compatibility with LTE standard and low demand for this spectrum for commercial communications. –Secondary market spectrum; 700 MHz also possible options.

Spectrum Access: Risks Cost of spectrum access –Purchasing spectrum on the secondary market –Relocating incumbent operations –Equipment availability Competition from commercial carriers –Federal regulators under intense pressure to allocate additional spectrum for broadband commercial services. –Carriers want utility business. Spectrum scarcity –Suitable spectrum is difficult to find, especially under 2 GHz and especially on a dedicated basis. –Unlicensed spectrum available, but subject to congestion/interference

Spectrum Access: Strategic Approach Coordinated/Unified support across all utilities and all critical infrastructure sectors. –UTC and EEI have formed a Utility Spectrum Access Initiative WG Develop a quantified substantiated basis for spectrum access –“We want spectrum!” won’t work. Must be specific and targeted. Elevate this initiative worldwide –Develops economies of scale, which attracts investment and equipment development/lower costs. Standardization –Develop solutions that are standardized, rather than proprietary to promote interoperability and avoid stranded investment.

© 2014 Utilities Telecom Council 8 Next Steps  Engage with Department of Energy and other federal agencies to gain support for utility spectrum access. DOE is leading a Smart Grid Communications Program to study spectrum needs, among other issues. Opportunity exists to conduct tests to demonstrate the feasibility of different spectrum bands.  Pursue long term strategy towards an international allocation of spectrum for utilities and other critical infrastructure industries. CITEL, which represents the North and South American region within the ITU, has formally adopted an electronic correspondence group to review existing studies and make recommendations to CITEL/the ITU on utility spectrum access.

© 2015 Utilities Telecom Council A Few Thoughts on Fiber RBC has been an active driver in the rural fiber deployment space with many success stories of member utilities Advocacy on Connect America Fund Phase II auction design is ongoing UtiliSite Council has a new focus area, Fiber Leasing, which can further utilities’ efforts to optimize their infrastructure Fiber is an important factor with the IP Transition effort UTC is also planning a Fiber Report inspired by the work we have done with SCE on an informal survey The report will contain more detail such as where in the country which utility is pursuing what business plan as well as lessons learned on deployment issues. UTC expects to launch this initiative soon after the annual conference

© 2015 Utilities Telecom Council A Few Thoughts on Fiber, cont’d UTC Telecom & Technology in Denver, CO from May 3-6 Kicking off Tuesday with workshops and summits like the IP Transition Summit and the UtiliSite Collocation, Joint Use and Fiber Summit Wednesday and Thursday devoted to educational tracks, e.g. for the UtiliSite Council, Rural Broadband Council, the Wireless Track and the Telecom track. Each track has seven sessions which take an hour each

© 2015 Utilities Telecom Council QUESTIONS Brett Kilbourne Utilities Telecom Council th Street, NW Suite 350 Washington, DC (202)